Carpeting is manufactured in endless strips of standard widths, e.g., 9, 12, 15 or 18 feet, and is sold as a roll of any convenient length, e.g., 20-50 feet. In order to apply that carpeting to the floor of a house as a wall-to-wall covering, the carpeting must be cut and pieces joined together to produce the final desired shape of the floor of each room. One method of joining carpeting is to sew the two abutting pieces and a backing strip of fabric binder together to make a strong seam. While this method produces a satisfactory product, it is slow and expensive in that it requires much time of a skilled craftsman. Furthermore, it is not easily accomplished at the site where the carpeting is being laid.
To solve this problem, a glueing technique was developed employing as a binding tape a wide strip (e.g., 4 inches) of paper with a reinforcing fabric lattice (e.g., 3 inches) lightly glued to the paper. This tape may also have a solidified layer of glue applied over the fabric lattice. The tape is placed over the abutting edges of the carpet to be joined and glued in place. In the case of the preglued tape, a hot iron is applied to the tape causing the glue to melt and penetrate the carpet backing. In the case of the tape having no preapplied layer of glue, hot molten glue is applied to the tape and the carpet backing and the tape is pressed into place by use of a hot iron applied to the back of the tape. In either prior art instance, the ironed tape is then allowed to cool, causing the glue to solidify, and the carpet is then ready for use. These later techniques are quick and easy to employ, and can be done at the site where the carpet is being fitted to a room and installed on the floor. The prior art techniques, however, have deficiencies which the present invention substantially overcomes. While the paper tape of the prior art produces a strong joint with respect to tensile strength, it produces a joint that has no bending strength. The newly taped joined carpet of the prior art readily bends along the juncture line and shows the edges of the carpet pieces that were joined by the tape. Frequently, the juncture line is readily apparent to one walking on the carpet after it is installed, and this is aesthetically undesirable. Furthermore, the glue frequently does not spread evenly upon application of the hot iron leaving irregularities which cause the carpeting not to be smooth. The paper tape of the prior art also is not suitable for joining carpeting that is to be used outdoors, because the paper deteriorates in the weather.
A more modern development is the fabrication of carpeting or area rugs from two or more different pieces of carpet to produce a design of different colors and/or textures. Such carpets are produced by cutting appropriate pieces from different carpets and assembling the cut pieces to produce a carpet or rug of the selected design. The assembly of such a designer rug or carpet requires that the cut pieces be joined along abutting edges by sewing and/or glueing. The prior art glueing procedures are not capable of producing a high quality designer carpet, particularly where the design comprises curved lines, because the wide tape could not follow the curves properly since the tape edges would overlap or cutting gussets from the tape would be required to permit it to follow a curved line. The apparatus and process of this invention provide a means for substantially overcoming these deficiencies of the prior art as applied to designer rugs or carpets.
It is a general object of this invention to provide an improved process for joining carpet pieces. It is another general object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus for joining carpet pieces in accordance with this process. It is still another object to provide an improved process and apparatus for producing designer carpets and rugs. Other objects will appear in the detailed description of this invention which follows.